OH MY GOSH! I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN SO LONG! I'm alive! I have been writing it just was really slow because school shows absolutely NO mercy. Yeah, I thought 3 assigments was a handful. Then it grew to 5 and I watched in sheer horror as it became EIGHT! That's a workload, people. That's basically why I haven't updated since the start of school. This chapter ended up pretty long too. Now, well, it's late and I have more school tomorrow (we had an awesome excursion today, ate McDonalds the whole way so there was no homework... except assignments but who gives at these times?)

Also, this was even later since I wrote a one shot 'I Think I Wanna Marry You' on the weekend. It's because I was waiting for the new Gakuen Alice chapter and I ended up rereading chapter 50 and... man ... fluff!

Well, I've kept you waiting long enough...

Chapter 15: Koko and Kisses

Today, in middle school class D, a new yet familiar student transferred back into Alice Academy. With silky auburn hair and hazel eyes that could speak her emotions for her, Mikan Sakura felt as though she'd enjoy being back in with her friends.

That is until a certain sandy-haired boy spoke those words that tore the atmosphere like a jagged knife.

"Yeah, about that... I think we have a lot to talk about, Ichigo-chan."

Ichigo-chan.

Ichigo-chan.

Ichigo-chan.

The words rang endlessly in Mikan's mind until she felt as though she would be driven insane if it lasted a second longer. Shocked stiff and rooted to the spot, she prayed with all her might that any remainder of Hotaru's pill from this morning would be put to effect in her next words, "Wh-what are you talking about Koko? Who's I-Ichigo-chan?"

"You're stuttering," Koko said bluntly.

Mikan couldn't speak. He had just uttered the name of the identity she had now accepted as no longer herself. She had spent a good whole week detaching herself from that and was ready to start again. If things went according to plan, then nobody would have to know and things could go on being all well and fine and Mikan could restart her life as, well, Mikan.

Koko, it seemed, was not about to let that happen. Was he serious? Did he actually know? What if he did? He was a mind reader after all. How could Mikan possibly go on without thinking he'd find out. She had nullification and she didn't spare a second thought to it. But what about Natsume, and Ruka and Hotaru. I carelessly thought that Hotaru had taken care of it all. But could Hotaru really miss such an important thing?

It didn't matter much now. The boy in front of her was dead serious. Racking her brain she forced herself to quickly – well, as much as she could – register the situation. Koko had never said anything definite. Mikan, now knowing that the pill wasn't working so well any more, didn't trust herself to ask. Nor did she trust herself to say anything at all.

So she stood there; helpless and most likely making it worse every silent second. Just when she knew that the time had been ample enough to completely give her away...

"How much do you know?"

Hotaru's lilac eyes were cold, hard and down to business. They penetrated every and any layer of defence that anyone could acquire both mentally and physically. Koko felt himself sweating for no real reason. Hotaru knew he knew and how forward she was, was completely to be expected. Well, he may as well enjoy this.

"Disappointed?" he tested.

Narrowing her eyes, Hotaru spat, "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well, Imai, I'm not as stupid as you think," Koko said pointedly, "You thought you were all cool, yeah?"

Imai raised her eyebrow. The motion added insane pressure for Koko to continue, which he was planning to do anyway.

"You think I wouldn't notice that Natsume and Ruka gradually added to your mental protection group? It stands out way more that I can't read my minds. It didn't take me long to figure out that something was going on. Surprisingly, I was curious. And it doesn't happen a lot when you know everything that's happening.

Hotaru looked a bit begrudging at that small flaw, but defended, "It was better than you knowing."

"But I just had to," he grinned. "So, I snooped a bit and I sort of pieced everything together. All I know was that it started sometime last week. We passed by a little kid who was freakishly the spitting image of Mikan. That was one hint. Another hint that I didn't realise 'til recently was that I couldn't read her mind when Natsume asked me about her. Oh and he was thinking about her like crazy after that, I was beginning to think he had a lolicon complex." To which, Natsume, who joined by Ruka had followed Hotaru at the mention of Mikan's pseudonym, scowled and Mikan stifled giggles.

"The very next day we get to suddenly visit that class and after talking to Ichigo a little bit, we thought it definitely wasn't Mikan. That worked really well, actually. I believe Imai is to credit for that." She nodded smugly. "But then..."

Her eyes narrowed once more.

"I didn't think big of it but Natsume wandered off on his own, thoughts still drowning with Mikan and Ichigo – Woah, hot, calm down there! - and he seemed to be thinking how exceedingly similar they were in behaviour as well. He wasn't around that whole night, but I don't really keep tabs on the resident emo kid – Alright! Alright! I'll stop, now put the flame away!" Natsume was thankfully restrained by Ruka.

"But what really stood out was that Natsume and Imai were missing the next morning. And, when they came back, bam! Natsume's got freaky mind protection too. At this point I knew she was involved. But just reading Natsume's actions, he looked a whole lot calmer and happier too." Ruka nodded in agreement. He had realised the same thing not too long ago.

"Lastly, the postcard. Is it not strange that days after we find a Mikan look-a-like, the actual Mikan announces that she'll be coming back? I did a checkup a few days ago and found that Ichigo Hana a.k.a mini Mikan had just transferred out of her class for the very same reason that Mikan had three years ago. Does that not scream 'obvious' to any of you?"

He dramatically ended his point as the rest of the party stood there in tense and silent contemplation. Hotaru seemed resilient to succumb to accepting the large flaw in her plan and her mind was seemingly calculating something. Ruka looked a tad defeated for not coming up with this all by himself too since he knew all those clues as well. Natsume was standing there in shame for basically being the main reason for Koko's discovery. While, of course, Mikan seemed to be piecing it all together herself.

"Right, well," Hotaru recovered the quickest, "I'll be sending you a great portion of paperwork to sign. This is all, of course, a confidential issue and I trust that I won't be needed any extra methods to make sure you keep it that way."

Mikan was thinking in her mind how much of a relief it was that Hotaru existed. She barged in on the conversation with sharp timing and now, she got over her mistakes and countered her flaws so quickly. Truly, Mikan was sure she was a person to be admired.

The atmosphere was beginning to lighten up and Hotaru had begun ushering Koko out the door when he stopped.

"Woah, woah, woah. Wait!" he interjected. "I told you all I knew but that's obviously not the whole thing. The whole point of my confronting Mikan slash Ichigo was to get some answers. I need them!"

Everyone stopped and sort of realised his point. Though, no one seemed especially keen to tell him anything.

"...Now!"

Natsume didn't see why they gave in to his endless whining. Who's fault was it now that Koko'd get information that didn't involve him? Regardless, Imai had somehow concluded that he required a briefing on the past events.

we now interrupt this writing session to say: ITACHI omg that was so random, i didn't realise it was there until i just saw it. i decided to leave it though. it makes it authentic. i wrote this in the middle of writing about a week ago... :/

Again, the story was told of how Mikan had lived two lives. How one little incident had lead to another and ultimately to this. From the first time they noticed the suspicious little girl to the day she came back, Koko had either his theories proved or the blanks filled in. By the end of it, Natsume would have to assume that he'd be pretty content with the information that they'd shared with him. He wasn't even involved in it in the first place.

But he wasn't.

"Hm... 'kay," he falsely concluded. "... but then..."

And he leaned in towards Natsume, eyebrows raised in what could only be called as no-good mischief. The fire caster was already irritated enough by first of all, Koko finding out, then him being given information, and lastly having to hear the story all over again. Natsume, like Mikan, wanted a fresh start and nothing more than to just forget about it. Well, most of it. The dark haired boy cringed at the proximity of the sly face.

"So, so, Natsume!" Koko proceeded a little too excitedly. "What did happen between you and Mikan last week, that evening when you disappeared?"

Natsume forgot to breathe for a second there while Mikan walked into a vending machine. The sinister grin on Koko's face grew wider. Ruka raised an eyebrow while Hotaru, of course, had her recorder out in a flash. Things were getting interesting.

"What do you mean?" Natsume countered coolly. "Nothing happened."

"As if," stated Koko. Hotaru was now leaning in as well, while Ruka couldn't help but get sucked in. By now, the whole party had completely forgotten about the poor auburn-haired student who had effectively been knocked out by the impact on the machine. They didn't leave her behind though, since the group had stopped from interest.

"None of your business happened," Natsume continued to argue. He was slightly thankful that Mikan and her poor, without-pill, acting couldn't influence his situation. Although, she may have already done some damage.

"Do you really expect me to believe that this girl," Koko jerked his thumb at the heap on the floor next to the vending machine, "would just end up there if it weren't for something I said?" The smirk on Koko's face grew as he stated his valid rebuttal.

However, so did Natsume's as he knew perfectly well how to respond. "Yes," he said tersely. "That clumsy idiot does things like that everyday." ...and even Imai couldn't disagree.

Koko refused to back down. "But you said 'none of my business happened' that means your business did. Something happened. You can't deny it!"

"Tch," Natsume scowled. "And like I'll tell you."

"You will!"

"Don't get your hopes up."

"I'll find out ya know!"

"It's at times like these that I'm glad Imai puts up mind barrier protection."

"Not anymore," input a stone cold voice.

Heads whipped from the argument to the ebony haired girl. In her hand was a remote. Her chibi form showed a smirk of a thousand curses as Natsume watched in complete and utter terror as the flicked the switch. Click!

Oh crud. In mid-panic, Natsume furiously tried to flush out any thoughts of that night, or that day... but to no avail. His extremely panicked mind seemed to be working to the opposite of his wishes as to his horror and the delight of two hungry eyed students – plus Ruka who looked just as terrified as Natsume at the cruelty being displayed, but unable to remove his interest.

Try as he might Natsume's sweat broke as the worst case scenario in his extremely malfunctioning mind. All the thoughts and memories of that fateful day, that evening and, heck, the whole week started filing themselves in chronological order in his mind.

His eyes contracted as the petrified boy counted down the seconds before his mind would finally give way. He could only twitch at the mouth as Hotaru held out a hand to Koko and said, "You tell me all about it and I'll completely abolish the mind barriers." Without diverting their gazes from Natsume he complied and they shook.

Too late now. From that moment, scene by scene played as Natsume's memories displayed vividly in his head. For Koko, the quality must've been top notch. It started with the time they walked past Elementary class B. How Natsume saw her first, how he couldn't believe the striking similarity. How he remembered her everything in that fleeting moment.

"Oh, wow. You remembered her real well even after those years," commented Koko.

Then he proceeded to recall his thoughts that afternoon. How it was overloaded with only one person. How he was appalled that he may have forgotten her enough to be unable to distinguish her from a random look-alike. How he accepted that he was actually so in love with her.

"Wow, you sure think of her a lot, don't you? Heh, nah, you were so right! It was her! ...OH. MY. GOSH. You admitted it to yourself!" Koko was having too much fun.

Then it turned into the next day, where they were to meet again, but fate had other plans for Natsume. He relived his desperate emotions and how he tried furiously to reach her. And when he finally did, something clicked. Of course, that was all with the help of a certain elementary girl...

"Yuri Miyagi, huh..."

He tried to stop it, but all too soon, he was back at the base of his favourite tree, going half crazy. Then she came. They talked. He, on some alien impulse spilled everything. His part confession, his thoughts, his feelings. It was all there and conveniently replaying in HD for Kokoro Yome's viewing pleasure.

"...Wow... You said all that to her... without knowing it was her! HAH!" he said hysterically. Then he added, "And good job, bro, I never knew you could be that romantic."

Then she left, shrouded in mystery, leaving Natsume hanging. He felt good. So good after that.

"How cute." Natsume really, really wanted to punch Koko right now, but he was absorbed in his own memories.

And then she screamed. That horrible, shrill shriek.

"Ow... that is one freaky scream."

So he ran to her, driven by concern only to find none other than Mikan Sakura herself. She lay there, perfectly real. Exactly her. So beautiful and divine. The one sight that Natsume had been longing to see. The one person that could fill the void. Mikan.

"Dang, this is like a drama show."

Natsume was able to bring her back to life and got her full explanation. He was torn. However, the overpowering feeling was joy and relief. So on some probably adolescent impulse, he did the completely inevitable...

"... !#$%. YOU KISSED HER!"

This took everyone by surprise. Hotaru, not so much, but she was partly overwhelmed as she frantically recorded – and filmed by this point – the show and hurriedly photographed Ruka's dumbfounded expression.

Koko was ready to hyperventilate by now, but Natsume's reeling thoughts kept him poking into the helpless Natsume's mind. Then all proceeding events were akin to that of a romantic movie scene.

"Wah! Fluff overload. I'm not that into shojo. Dude, I still can't believe you kissed her. That's crazy and oh... oh! You did it again. Mate, you're a champion. You made her confess her feelings and kissed her... You're just phenomenal, Hyuuga!"

Natsume was so beyond seething anger that the room temperature started to rise at an alarming rate. It was getting to about a seven degree temperature rise and the images began to blur that Hotaru had to re-initiate the barrier to calm him down. This did not, however, dilute his rage.

After recovering and fixing the room temperature, he turned slowly and menacingly towards the Sandy haired boy. His crimson eyes were ablaze with fury as he spoke; slowly and threateningly.

"Kokoro Yome," he hissed, "you better run."

At this point, Koko couldn't decide who was scarier: Natsume or Imai. The fact that he was about to soil his pants didn't help the decision. All he knew was that, he was scared. And this time, he had reason to be.

"R-run?" the petrified boy couldn't quite process things clearly anymore. "Wh-why?"

Natsume's face remained stone cold as he brought up his left hand. "Why? Because of this." A flame ignited on his palm. His eyes were locked onto his sandy haired target.

Koko didn't need telling twice, "Crap."

And with that, he bolted away with an irate and dangerous potential-murderer behind him.

Hotaru and Ruka watched as the two disappeared down the hallway. Ruka was still a bit awestruck and Hotaru shrugged. She efficiently put away all her equipment and turned her head downwards to the left. "Now," she sighed, "what do we do with this?"

She was referring to the heap lying on the ground. "Oh, um..." Ruka had guiltily forgotten of her presence.

Hotaru rolled her eyes, "I guess it can't be helped then." With that, she grabbed Mikan's hair and careless began dragging her away.

"Ah! Hotaru, you can't! Oh my god -"

So the remaining people disappeared from that scene as well, equally as noisy as the previous departing party.

Excuse the probably abundant mistakes of the second half. I wrote most of it just then and I couldn't be stuffed to go over it. It's too late. I need sleep. Well for reasons stated earlier, I will be slow in updating, but I haven't given up on this story just yet, so just please bear with me. Reviews would be awesome, since they extremely pressure me to write and um... happy living?